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Lehrbuch der physiologischen chemie. 10th edition
BOOK
REVIEWS
243
Lehrbuch der physiologischen Chemie. 10th Edition. By S. EDLBACHER and F. LEUTHARDT. Walter De Gruyter & Co., Berlin W 35, 1952. xx + 723 pp. Price, DM. 34.00. In the first volume of the Lehrbuch der physiologischen Chemie by Edlbacher and Leuthardt the chemical and enzymatic aspects of intermediary metabolism were presented. The second volume of the textbook which has just appeared covers the specific biochemistry of the individual tissues and organs. Chapters on water and salt regulation; blood; urine; kidney; muscle, and central nervous system; connective tissue; and liver are followed by chapters on the hormones. The last part of this volume deals with nutrition, the vitamins, and trace elements, and closes with a discussion of the nutritional values of different food. Certain sections of this new edition have been completely rewritten, and the book ha.s been transformed into a m6dern text of biochemistry There are, however, still parts of the book which have escaped adequate revision. The treatment of the metabolism of alcohols and aldehydes is inadequate and outdated. Perhaps the discussion of tumor metabolism should better have been omitted or enlarged rather than given a heading and a digest treatment of nine lines. The discussion of thiamine and thiaminase is superficial and outdated. These examples of defects and particularly the tendency of the author to include very recent developments in research which were published only in preliminary notes, are childhood diseases of many textbooks. If we wish to consider this completely revised book as the first, rather than the 10th edition of the textbook, we are quite favorably impressed with the positive aspects, which outnumber by far the negative ones. The text is relatively free of gross errors in structural formulas, the language is precise, and the sentences surprisingly short. Incorporation of recent developments in enzymology and isotope studies has given some of the chapters the liveliness of transition. Schematic representation such as used for illustrating the effect of parathyroid hormone on calcium metabolism should be helpful to the beginning student. It is hoped that the enlarged and improved edition of this textbook will remain popular with students of medicine and biochemistry. E. RACKER, New Haven, Connecticut The Nature and Significance of the Antibody Response. Edited by A. M. PAPPENHEIMER, JR., Columbia University Press. New York, N. Y., 1953. x + 227 pp. Price $5.00. This book is a collection of reports presented at a symposium held at the New York Academy of Medicine in 1951. The editor has arranged these so that they may be read as a logically constructed monograph. Moreover, a common preoccupation appears in the greater part of the reports in that, wherever possible, stress is given to quantitative methods. “From this point of view,” says Dr. Pappenheimer, “the meeting should be looked upon as a tribute to Michael Heidelberger.” Chapters l-5 deal with the production of antibodies. F. Haurowitz gives a short version of his theory of a two-phase process in protein synthesis according to which the antigen intervenes only in the second phase, i.e., the specific folding of the primary protein film. Ph. D. McMaster reviews the various theories which have claimed certain tissues to be the sites of antibody formation. The antibody response to specific and nonspecific stimuli is discussed by J. Freund, while the great
REVIEWS
243
Lehrbuch der physiologischen Chemie. 10th Edition. By S. EDLBACHER and F. LEUTHARDT. Walter De Gruyter & Co., Berlin W 35, 1952. xx + 723 pp. Price, DM. 34.00. In the first volume of the Lehrbuch der physiologischen Chemie by Edlbacher and Leuthardt the chemical and enzymatic aspects of intermediary metabolism were presented. The second volume of the textbook which has just appeared covers the specific biochemistry of the individual tissues and organs. Chapters on water and salt regulation; blood; urine; kidney; muscle, and central nervous system; connective tissue; and liver are followed by chapters on the hormones. The last part of this volume deals with nutrition, the vitamins, and trace elements, and closes with a discussion of the nutritional values of different food. Certain sections of this new edition have been completely rewritten, and the book ha.s been transformed into a m6dern text of biochemistry There are, however, still parts of the book which have escaped adequate revision. The treatment of the metabolism of alcohols and aldehydes is inadequate and outdated. Perhaps the discussion of tumor metabolism should better have been omitted or enlarged rather than given a heading and a digest treatment of nine lines. The discussion of thiamine and thiaminase is superficial and outdated. These examples of defects and particularly the tendency of the author to include very recent developments in research which were published only in preliminary notes, are childhood diseases of many textbooks. If we wish to consider this completely revised book as the first, rather than the 10th edition of the textbook, we are quite favorably impressed with the positive aspects, which outnumber by far the negative ones. The text is relatively free of gross errors in structural formulas, the language is precise, and the sentences surprisingly short. Incorporation of recent developments in enzymology and isotope studies has given some of the chapters the liveliness of transition. Schematic representation such as used for illustrating the effect of parathyroid hormone on calcium metabolism should be helpful to the beginning student. It is hoped that the enlarged and improved edition of this textbook will remain popular with students of medicine and biochemistry. E. RACKER, New Haven, Connecticut The Nature and Significance of the Antibody Response. Edited by A. M. PAPPENHEIMER, JR., Columbia University Press. New York, N. Y., 1953. x + 227 pp. Price $5.00. This book is a collection of reports presented at a symposium held at the New York Academy of Medicine in 1951. The editor has arranged these so that they may be read as a logically constructed monograph. Moreover, a common preoccupation appears in the greater part of the reports in that, wherever possible, stress is given to quantitative methods. “From this point of view,” says Dr. Pappenheimer, “the meeting should be looked upon as a tribute to Michael Heidelberger.” Chapters l-5 deal with the production of antibodies. F. Haurowitz gives a short version of his theory of a two-phase process in protein synthesis according to which the antigen intervenes only in the second phase, i.e., the specific folding of the primary protein film. Ph. D. McMaster reviews the various theories which have claimed certain tissues to be the sites of antibody formation. The antibody response to specific and nonspecific stimuli is discussed by J. Freund, while the great